


Safe Love

by caplanbuckybarnes



Category: Marvel
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gangsters, F/M, Guns
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-10
Updated: 2018-10-10
Packaged: 2019-07-28 22:34:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16251158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caplanbuckybarnes/pseuds/caplanbuckybarnes
Summary: Tony trains Pepper to shoot a gun.





	Safe Love

The first time Pepper holds the pistol in her hand, she’s shaking uncontrollably. Tony doesn’t mind; the thought of harming another human being isn’t something to take lightly. He knows that what she feels is normal. Except, he never felt that way the first time he held a gun in his hands.

Tony was sixteen when Howard handed him his first pistol. Howard had taken him out to some abandoned alleyway in some gritty neighborhood and trained him to be the skilled killer he was to become. Tony learned far too quickly that having an emotional attachment to anything would become his downfall.

So, he detached himself from all emotion over the years. He was able to swallow every emotion until he was nothing more than just the shell of the man he once was. But somehow, some way, this ginger haired woman in front of him melted his icy heart. Pepper Potts had tamed the beast that resided inside of his mind. She was all he cared for.

But after she had been mugged one night on her walk home from work, Tony sprung into action. They had kept their relationship a secret from the city; Tony felt like it was nobody’s business to know whom he was screwing. Pepper cared deeply for the man and catered to his every need. She was everything that Tony craved in a person, though, he’d never admit it out loud.

Pepper’s hand shakes uncontrollably as she closes one eye and aims it at the paper target several meters ahead of her. She presses the trigger and cries out at the noise that explodes from the bullet. Tony’s right by her side, soothing her as best as he knows how.

She quells her shaking and looks at Tony with tear-stricken eyes. She’s worried about the thought of harming another human, Tony knows this. He loves her innocence. He loves that she cares so deeply for humanity. But he knows she must learn to care for herself. She must learn how to defend herself in times when Tony cannot get to her.

Love, it’s a funny word that Tony dares not ever say aloud. But Pepper adores him. She knows how he feels about her, even if he never speaks of it. She knows that Tony would go to the end of the world if she so much asked that of him. He’s dedicated to her and only her. 

Tony quells her cries and he gently pushes her arms up, back at the target. “DO it for me, Pepper.” He whispers in her ear. “Imagine the fright you had felt when you had thought you would die. Imagine the panic you felt, let it wash over you. Revel in that anger and fear and let it guide you.” He speaks in hushed tones, but Pepper listens to him.

She straightens her spine and her face momentarily contorts in anguish before a scowl appears on her lips. She pulls the trigger and lowers the gun just as the bullet pierces through the head of the drawing.

“How does it feel to kill for me?” Tony’s soft remains soft as he leans in to her ear. His hot breath ghosts along her earlobe and she shudders. “How does it feel to claim the life of someone who is deserving of it? I want you to be able to protect yourself at all costs.”

“I loved it, Tony.” she swallows, feeling sickened at the enjoyment she felt as she imagined that she had blown her mugger’s head clean off his shoulders. “I want him to pay for his damage.”

“Daniel Rand will certainly pay for ever harming you, sweetheart.”


End file.
